Plasticity of the Brain can help Gabby Giffords

In a  great article written by David Brown of the Washington Post (Friday, January 21, 2011), he explains how victims of brain injuries have the capability to survive and thrive by the brain "healing" itself because of a characteristic known as neuroplasticity.

"The ability of the brain to compensate for damage by at least partly rewiring itself and assigning new tasks to undamaged regions is known as "neuroplasticity." It's one of the hottest topics in biology and an important one in medicine. Because of insights from functional magnetic resonance imaging and other technologies, scientists now realize that brain reorganization after injury is far more common and extensive than previously thought. They also know that neuroplasticity depends to a great degree on experience - which is to say, what the brain is forced to do in the critical weeks and months after it is injured."

Brown goes on to write:

"When an area with a specific function is destroyed, the brain first attempts to recruit nearby cells, which are often doing similar tasks, to change and perform the function of the destroyed cells.  If that's not possible, because the destroyed area is so large and the nearest surviving cells are, in fact, doing something completely unrelated, the analogous area on the other side of the brain - the opposite hemisphere - takes on some of the tasks, with varying success.

These two strategies - recruiting nearby tissue and recruiting the mirror-image area in the other hemisphere - have different success rates depending on what functions have been damaged by stroke or, in Giffords's case, by a projectile."  

 

The plasticity of the adolescent brain lends itself to great potential in growth and development.  During this time, the teen brain is strengthening it's communication pathways as the myelination process intensifies (the coating of the neuron's axons with a fatty substance known as myelin).  This process makes the brain more efficient in its messaging. Just like injured brains rewire their pathways, the adolescent brain is creating and rewiring their pathways through experiences. Thus, the experiences adolescents are participating in will impact how their brains become wired and how difficult it may be for their brains to rewire itself if it needs to change.  

 

Top 8 Research Items in the Field of Adolescent Brain Development.

Below is the list of the most exciting things I think researchers have discovered in the area of adolescent brain development.  I am hoping somebody will let me know if I missed anything.

1) The prefrontal [PFC] cortex is still developing.  The brain isn't complete just because the baby is born.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  Most of the brain still needs to develop after birth and well into many years to come.  Jay Geidd, along with other researchers, have discovered that adolescence, starting around 10-11 years old and ending in a person's mid-twenties, is the key time for the development of the PFC.

2) The brain's plasticity [or the ability of the neurons to receive and learn new messages] allows for the brain to keep learning.  I like to think of the brain's plasticity as linked to hope and potential, especially when I am working with groups that help at-risk youth.  I think every kid can be helped.  The trick, however, is finding out what will work, when it needs to be provided and who will do it.   It may be a long, tricky road ahead for a young damaged brain, but the right combination of the three makes all the difference in the world.

3) The amygdala and the limbic system are powerful influences on the adolescent.  The AMYGDALA, which is naturally larger in the male brain, is the center for strong emotional reactions.  The LIMBIC SYSTEM, which contains the amygdala, is a multi-component system in the center of the brain and is known as the emotional response system. These items "drive" the adolescent brain until the PFC can "get behind the wheel" and regulate the emotional response.

4) Myelination of the axons intensifies.  Axons are the communication "highways" between neurons in the brain.  A fatty substance known as myelin coats the axons to make them more efficient and durable. This process intensifies during adolescence helping the teen brain become a better operator.

5) Puberty is separate from adolescent brain development.  You can't blame everything on the hormones, even though they can be rowdy guests at the party.  The relationship between brain development and neurotransmitters [neurological system]  and puberty and hormones [endocrine system] is an interesting one when you take into consideration the purpose, need and timing of both.

6) There are three stages of adolescence (as defined by Lawrence Steinberg): early (10-13 years old); middle (14-17 years old); and late (18-21/25 years old).  Within each stage there are changes in the biological, cognitive, and social spheres.

7) There are gender similarities and gender differences in the brain.  Given that everything is "normal" and they are healthy brains, a few similarities between male and female brains are: (a) both develop from the back to the front; (b) both brains need water; (c) both can be damaged by the stress hormone, cortisol; and (d) both brains need "good" fats such as Omega 3 to help with the myelination process.  The differences are: (a) the male brain is typically larger than the female brain (but it doesn't mean they are smarter); (b) the female brain receives more blood flow to the front of the brain; (c) the male brain has a larger amygdala while the female brain has a larger hippocampus; and (d) the female brain uses both sides of the brain to process language while the male brain uses only one side.

8) The use of technology can have a profound impact on how the brain develops.  A book I highly recommend to everyone who wants to learn more about this is "iBrain: Surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind" by Gary Small and GiGi Vorgan. The younger generations' brains do not operate like the brains of older generations because the skills and tasks they are learning through the use of technology.